Somnia Online: Fragments - Chapter Thirteen (Patreon)

Suspended state

Harlow still appeared to be asleep when Wren logged back into the game. She frowned as she materialized in Verendus, somewhat glad of the peace and quiet she'd get. Her mind was a mix of so much emotion, such a heavy dose of lingering anger, she could barely think straight. Her first course of action was to see if Snowy was waiting for her. She made her way through the darkened streets of the dwarven city, her footfalls light as she left the shadow of the smiling fountain.

Guards stood silently at the gates, four of them now instead of the two there had been before battle. They nodded in her direction as she made her way out. Yet another thing in the game world that had changed because of her guild's actions. The bloody fields were still present, but were slowly reverting to their former snow covered glory. Murmur shivered at the thought of all the blood and guts hidden underneath, crunching beneath her feet with a somber finality as she walked.

She stood, waiting, trying to figure out how she would find Snowy. Several minutes passed before she decided to try where she'd originally found him, only to have him suddenly wuff into her hand at her side. The sensation made her jump a little, unexpected as it was, and she knelt down to look him in the eyes.

"Good to see you." His presence calmed her fraught emotions, toning down her anger until it barely simmered beneath her the surface. "You know, if you're not charmed, I don't get any experience for the help you give me."

He sat there, nose twitching as his tongue lolled out of his mouth in a huge grin. She scratched behind his ears and activated Charming Cooperation with a thought, and his expression didn't change at all. If she looked at her HUD, she could see their connection, but Snowy's reaction to her didn't indicate any type of coercion. Which was good in its own way considering her inclinations of late. At least she knew she wasn't inadvertently effecting him.

But she wasn't in the mood to fight monsters. Right now she had her own demons to deal with, and that was by far enough. Standing upright, she leaned on her staff and stretched. "C'mon boy. Let's go get me some new spells, huh?"

His only answer was to stand up and nudge her thigh with his head. Chuckling, she made her way back through the gates, nodding to the guards as she went, and headed toward the enchanter guild, her companion at her side, making everything just that bit more bearable.

The quiet in the village gave her thoughts time to detangle, and her emotions the chance to unwind. She hadn't realized how much she'd resented her mother's decision, but seeing her had been necessary, trying to understand her had been vital to Murmur's own mental state in Somnia.

Inside the Enchanter guild it was ever rowdy. Never a dull moment in this part of the world. She smiled as Geshua greeted her, and wondered for a moment if the NPCs never slept. Surely having them require sleep would add a layer of realism. And probably be bloody annoying to program too. The dwarf stifled a yawn as he waved her through to the back, and Murmur tightened her shielding reflexively. Somehow all these NPC enchanters always seemed to be able to interject conversation or actions that were entirely too close to what she'd been thinking about. Since the headgear accessed her thoughts and some memories, it stood to reason that the computer world could do the same.

She walked down the empty hall, Snowy at her side. The door to Dirsna's office swung open just as she arrived. There had to be some trick to hiding her thoughts, maybe hiding her presence. Like an invisibility for the mind, because they could always sense her coming, and she didn't like that. There was no surprise attacking any of them.

Snowy nudged her leg as if to say, hey, take a chill pill, it's not all that bad. She focused on the wolf's eyes for a moment, a bit perturbed that even a damned canine seemed to be able to tell what she was thinking, but it probably showed on her face or something. She'd never been the best at controlling her facial expressions. Why should it be any different in a game?

"Murmur!"Dirsna looked up from where he was working on scrolls yet again at his desk and smiled at her. He always seemed so genuine. "Such a pleasure to see ye again. I see ye've been doing well for yourself. Do you mind if I ask how ye took down Dunforth?"

Murmur raised an eyebrow and ran through the thoughts in her head. She could tell him, but what was to say he wouldn't have a favorite gamer and give away some of their secret. That was the thing with a free flowing game like this. You just never knew. "We worked through the dungeon methodically and analyzed the weak spots. Sort of like we do with any major encounter."

She hadn't exactly lied either. All of it was true, just not detailed.

Dirsna apparently found it highly amusing. He slapped his knee with a loud guffaw and stood, holding out a hand to shake hers quite vigorously. "Well done young psionicist, well done. Shortly ye'll gain yer next feat of psionics. Ye'll unlock the extra fifty base. Ye can't unlock anymore base MA before ye hit level fifty yerself though."

"Really? That'll come in handy." Considering she wasn't contemplating giving up snowy any time soon, not having to worry about the MA that was permanently reduced while she had him cooperating, was sort of a blessing. "So, what do I get with my big three oh?"

Dirsna's answering smile was filled with excitement and knowledge. The expression made his eyes twinkle and knocked about a decade off his age for a few moments. "Ye're going to love these. As ye level now, ye've specialized, yer specialization will begin to hone in on other abilities the more ye delve into it."

"I thought you said I could have multiple specialties?" She almost pouted, but didn't like the hitch in her voice and tried to keep a more mature countenance.

"Ye do get multiple specialities if ye want to, but keep in mind ye'll never be able to reach the peak in any of them if ye don't fully specialize."

Murmur blinked. "Can they ever be reset or are you stuck with the original choice you made for the entire game."

Dirsna tapped the side of his nose, the twinkle still prevalent in his eyes. "That is an excellent question. Being able to reset yer abilities is something ye have to quest for. Ye'll get the quest eventually, and that's all I can say on the matter."

Suppressing a groan, Murmur nodded. "Got it. So, hit me with it Dirsna, what abilities do I get now."

"Ye get a Mesmerize upgrade. It'll just increase the time from thirty six to forty-eight seconds." He ran down a list he had on the table, a small frown tugging at his beard, absent-mindedly handing Murmur a scroll.

"Then yer shield illusion gets an upgrade to one hundred and fifty hit points." His frown deepened as he handed her the scroll, using his other hand to follow the list, he finally smiled as he handed her another. "Altruism will also increase in faction. Ye've already used it wisely once, I've no doubt ye'd do so again."

He clapped his hands. "That's it for yer simple upgrades. Ye get a choice of three specialization abilities, as well as three more enchanter spells. For yer hybrid class ye need to go and see your druidic trainer, but..."

He narrowed his eyes. "Ye need to be using them more. Had ye used it effectively that incident near the castle would never have happened. Ye have all these tools for a reason, don't be so stubborn."

Murmur fought the instinct to scowl at him. Mainly because she thought he was right. "I know. Still getting used to it all." Which somehow made her feel like she was failing at the game. She couldn't deny that her emotions were heightened in here like they'd never been before. Her logic sometimes had difficulty breaking through, which was a new experience for her.

She sat down on the other side of the desk and opened the first three scrolls to absorb the upgrades.

Altruism
Cast: Self or others
Type: Buff
Duration: 45 minutes
Effect: This allows a faction increase to your target. It will lift you two faction levels. However, should you be kill on sight, not even altruism can help you. This buff will update again at level 40. Worked out well last time, didn't it?

Shield Illusion
Cast: Self or Others
Type: Defensive Buff
Duration: Until depleted – requires hematite
Effect: Using the power of your mind you cast a shield around your target, confusing the enemies and negating up to 150hp of damage. That whole mind magic thing seems to be working out well, doesn't it?

Mesmerize
Cast: Single Target
Type: Breakable Stun
Duration: forty-eight seconds
Effect: This spell immobilized your opponent for as long as they take no damage, or forty-eight seconds, whichever is shorter. You may cast non damaging spells on them, and you may renew this casting before the initial one expires. Casting it on your friends probably isn't a good way to win popularity contests.

Stronger was stronger, even if it only improved current abilities. She eyed the other four scrolls with trepidation. "So I should stay with the specialization I chose then?"

Dirsna shrugged. "That is yer choice. I would mention that I think ye chose wisely, and I'm aware of how ye've been using yer powers, and I believe it's the best choice for the path ye've veered down. But it is dangerous. Ye could back track, and choose something else, but if it's power you're after, then Sinuous is it."

In Perpetuity
Cast: Self Only
Type: Buff
Duration: Until death or departure from Somnia
Effect: This buff increases the enchanter's casting speed for all spells, allowing them to fire them off in quick succession. Combined with concentration, this buff allows the enchanter to access all of their spells without weaving. Caution: this requires that the enchanter be fully aware of all of aspects of each spell they cast in this way.

Concentration
Cast: Self Only
Type: Buff
Duration: Until departure from Somnia or death.
Effect: This buff increases the enchanter's ability to focus on, and learn their spells. Combined with In Perpetuity, this buff allows the enchanter to cast all of their spells without first weaving them. Caution: If concentration hasn't been fully applied to the spells, the consequences can be disastrous.

Murmur blinked at her two new enchanter skills. Strengthening herself was good too. Her reaction times would be phenomenal by the looks of it, as long as she didn't fuck up the spells in her mind first. Finally she took a deep breath and unrolled the two awaiting scrolls from her Sinuous line.

Possession I
Cast: Instant - 5 minute recast
Type: Offensive
Duration: twenty seconds
Effect: Force your way into the mind of your target and assume control for up to twenty seconds. Make sure the target is debuffed for maximum duration. Don't even contemplate being in the target when it dies. It's a very bad idea.

Sudden Drop
Cast: Instant - 10 minute recast
Type: Offensive Debuff
Duration: twenty seconds
Effect: A forced debuff wave that overrides the enemy's natural defenses and convinces them that all their stats have dropped by an amount equivalent to the caster's level. Lasts for twenty-five seconds. Cannot be resisted.

Sudden drop started the cogs in Murmur's head whirring. There was no way that wasn't overpowered. Granted, a ten minute recast probably meant it could be used a maximum of twice in a fight. But damned if that wasn't useful should they encounter Exodus again.

The runes under her skin glowed fiercely with an angry purple as she absorbed the last. Lights danced and tickled from beneath as her body absorbed the magic. She frowned, and reached down to scratch Snowy's head, before pushing herself up. "Thanks Dirsna."

But he didn't smile in response. Instead, he inclined his head. "Watch yer thoughts, young Murmur. Remember yer grounding."

She hesitated just before exiting, trying to usher in the feeling of confidence that suddenly left her. Instead, she managed a rather wan smile at the dwarven enchanter and exited the room, somewhat trepeditious about her most recent upgrades.

#

Murmur stood at the fountain, watching to see if it would move when Sinister sidled up next to her and nudged her in the ribs. "What you doin?"

"Trying to figure out the connection between the keys and the fountains." Murmur answered, her gaze not wavering.

"Ah, I thought you might have been kicking yourself for being a bitch to Laria when you finally saw her after days of ignoring her." Sinister's tone held a note of disapproval. It grated on Murmur's nerves.

"Nope. Just regret at having thought it was a good idea to go back 'home' at all. It's not like it's real." She snapped the words out, irritated.

Sinister turned to face Mur, her eyes flashing. "What is your deal? It's no one's fault really. It's not like she put you here deliberately. I've been staying at your house to try and make sure you're ok. So I'm close if there's anything you need. Because maybe something in here will trigger something out there and I can be there to help them make sense of it. So stop trying to blame us all, and maybe turn some of that anger of yours toward the damned AI you seem to love so much. Because if anything helped this happen - it's Telvar."

Murmur clenched her fists, opened them, and closed them again. She tried counting to five but by three she was so angry she couldn't see clearly. Her voice was so deadly calm when she spoke, she barely realized it was her own. "What right do you have to tell me I can't be angry? You, who kept this shit from me for months. Months, Sin. Weren't we supposed to have no secrets? Didn't we promise that?"

Her voice cracked on the last word and a wave of sadness swept over her. Sinister's mouth opened in a perfect o of shock for just a few moments. Then her shoulders squared and she locked her jaw in that stubborn way she had that usually meant talking to her was a foregone lost cause.

"We've made lots of promises, Mur. I'm not the only one who didn't share a secret." Her tone was pouty, juvenile even, and Murmur could hear the hurt underneath those words.

"You mean the AI shit? Not tell you that Telvar is one of the AIs running the world, is nowhere near the same as not telling me I'm in a fucking coma!" She raised her voice, frustration getting the better of her. Why couldn't her friend understand. "On one hand, Tel intervened, probably saved my fucking life, and then again to make me aware so I could, I don't know, be slightly less reckless than I usually am."

Which was the whole fucking point of her anger. She had never been a cautious player. Throw everything she had at the encounters and hope something stuck. Trial and error was how they conquered everything, and leaving it until she was close to twenty before telling her that trial and error wouldn't work in this game had been downright irresponsible.

Murmur pushed the emotions roiling inside her outward, watched as the guilt slammed into Sinister and watched the change in expression as she continued feeding it with her words. "I could so easily have died in those first few levels. Hell, you died at level eight. What if that had been me? What if, in all your good intentions I died because no one fucking thought to tell me I should take more precautions while playing this game?"

Sinister stumbled backward a few steps, and Mur shook her head, reining in on the emotions she was broadcasting in a tight circle around her. Her sensing ability told her Sin didn't need more than her own emotions to make her feel like shit, and for a second Murmur regretted speaking so rashly. Yet, at the same time, this whole - it's not a big deal the we kept this whole thing from you attitude was seriously wearing her down.

Why couldn't they understand that what they'd done was wrong? On so many levels. She sighed and dropped her hands to her side, suddenly feeling defeated. It crept through her stomach and up her spine, making her painfully aware of her predicament.

"Look. How about you not tell me how I should feel about my parents orchestrating all of this and conspiring to keep it from me -- and I'll try to stop taking my anger out on everyone else." Her words fell flat, all her emotion spent. For now.

Sin eyed her warily. "Don't pull that projection shit on me again. I don't like my emotions being influenced. I have enough of them regarding you already."

The blood mage stopped and took a deep breath. "Fine. I won't talk to you about your mom or your dad, or whatever. And I'm sorry I broke our promise, but so did you, even if you think it's trivial."

"Even then?" Murmur still didn't think they equated each other, but her chest ached with how much she just wanted things to be normal between her and Sin again.

"Yeah. Not like anyone else would put up with us, is it?" There was something very sad about the way Sin spoke, and Murmur wondered if she'd broken it worse than she could fix this time. A life without Sin in it wasn't possible.

"Well, I think it's pretty easy to put up with you. Me on the other hand?" Murmur shrugged self depreciatingly. "I'm a pain in the ass. Even more so when in a coma apparently."

At least that made Sin laugh. "No, you're right. I spent all of those first few levels so worried about you. We should have told you. I'm so sorry."

"I should have told at least you about Tel. I'm sorry too." The weight that lifted off Murmur's chest made breathing easier again. And even though they hugged it out, she still felt there was far too much tension in the air.

#

Murmur waited at the fountain, sitting on the edge, scratching Snowy's head and practiced grounding herself with her earth skills. Applying In Perpetuity made even casting those skills faster, and concentration needed to be applied to each of her spells before she could use it as such. She wished the tooltip had been more specific.

She watched as a few people rode into the city, and realized they were all players. Barely refraining from smacking herself in the head, she stood up and brushed off her robes. With everything else they'd forgotten all about mounts. The riders dismounted and she realized they were level twenty-six and from Fable. Seems the groups beneath them were coming along nicely. In terms of time, they were still a day or two behind them, but not everyone tackled leveling the way their core group did.

She vaguely recognized one of them. Apparently though, she was far more recognizable than she thought, because Ashfin raised a hand and waved.

"Murmur!" They called out, flinging their reins over the neck of their mount, Ashfin jogged over. His tall Luna form reminded her of how Snowy might appear if he were on two legs. "Congrats on Hightower! What are you up to?"

Ah yes, Hightower meant their guild had the first of twelve keys. It probably had everyone raring to go. "Waiting for the others to get their level thirty skills. Where'd you get the mounts?"

Ashfin blinked at her. "Oh! The mounts. There's a stable just around the left hand side here if you follow the inside of the wall. It's tucked away behind the inn. You might have to have a drink with the Dwarf who runs it. Seems he's a bit particular about that."

"Great! Thanks! Keep up the leveling!" She smiled at them standing up to move toward the stable. Damned if she wasn't going to get herself something to ride on.

"Yep!" Ahsfin winked. "We plan to catch up to you when you hit fifty."

"Well I should hope so, since there won't be anywhere else to go for a while." Murmur laughed and waved goodbye. At least the other guild members had a sense of humor too.

It wasn't hard to find the stables. In fact, she was amazed she hadn't managed to locate them before this. Then again, she hadn't been looking. Snowy trotted along at her side, his footfalls silent. Murmur made her way along the path between several large pens. Never mind seeing, how had she not smelled this?

An extra stout dwarf greeted her at the end of the pens, under a roofed part of the stalls. The wooden fences were all painted a bright white and reminded Murmur of the fences she'd seen in movies about horses in Kentucky.

"What can I do for you miss?" His blue eyes twinkled, belying the age depicted by the grey beard that trailed almost to the floor.

"Hi." She looked around at all the different variances of mounts in the pens and frowned. "I'm in need of a mount, actually, I'll need eleven."

The dwarf's eyes rounded like saucers. "Excellent. What types?"

Murmur was looking at all of them feeling somewhat helpless. She hadn't done any homework. She'd been far too preoccupied with other things. It was obvious though, that she couldn't use a pony or horse, they weren't big enough for her. "I'm really not sure."

The stable owner chuckled. "Nevermind, we have locus suitable rides as well. My name is Harish."

"Locus suitable?" Murmur's interest piqued at the comment. She'd just assumed she'd ride a horse, or tiger, or huge mountain goat or something.

Harish nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! Locus have a slightly different joint make up. While it's not noticeable in normal everyday circumstances, it can make riding just any mount painful."

"Oh." It's all she could think of to say. She put weight on each leg alternating, trying to see if she could feel a difference. Maybe a little bouncier, but that was about it.

"So when it comes time for you to choose your mounts, you need to enter our mount room a seek a bond with one of the Tiachi." He smiled like she should know what he was talking about, and she didn't have the heart, or patience to correct him.

Murmur nodded and directed a thought to the guild. Group up at the stables so we can mount up and head out.  She didn't bother to wait for an answer. She had figure out what the hell these Tiachi were and what exactly they did.

"So I need a Tiachi to ride for me?" Needing a bond with a creature didn't sit well with her. Being reliant on something else for transportation instead of a horse she could control made her feel queasy.

Harish nodded, and motioned his way to what she'd assumed was a tack room, but in fact seemed like cool storage from the air that wafted out when he opened the door. "You have to go in alone. They won't come out for me. But I guarantee you it's well maintained and checked by the locus Tiachi council every week!"

Murmur smiled as if she knew what he was talking about, and tried to warn off the voice in her head telling her this looked so much like a trap. Taking a deep breath, she stepped inside.

It was cool and dark, like a welcome to her body. Strength suffused her that she hadn't felt previously. Perhaps the locus thrived in cool places. Although it hadn't seemed that way in the mountains. Maybe it had to be dark too. For a few moments she thought she'd definitely been tricked. But then she began to see tiny lights darting back and forth in all different colors.

From gold and silver, to blue and purple, reds and pinks, yellow and orange. They flittered about like multi-colored fireflies. And if she listened really hard, trills of laughter followed them where they flew. The lights at the end of her hair began to glow, lending to the soft luminescence in the room with its purple tinges. They reached through like tentacles of warmth, spreading sparks when her own light clashed with a Tiachi. It sent them skittering with laughter away from her -- all except one. Even as her arms lit up with a forceful glow, brighter than any she'd seen before, Murmur knew she'd found her bond.

The small light was a deep purple tinged with some red, and as it drifted closer to her, she realized it wasn't a firefly or a faerie but a tiny hovering alien. There were no wings she could see, and its tentacled hair reached all the way down to its knees where it gathered in one single glowing light. Its eyes weren't galaxies like her own, but instead softly glowing orbs, and as it hovered in front of her face and reached out a tiny hand to place it on her forehead, Murmur realized a piece of her character had been missing all along.

#

Somnia Online location: Brevint

Ishmael Tavern: main room

Somnia Day Twelve

Masha entered the room Ishwa was using as their current base of operation until they got their paperwork filed for the guild hall and leaned against the wall. The gnome was sorting through several documents on the table, a frown on his face making him look old and grumpy.

It didn't surprise the cleric when Ishwa spoke without greeting or preamble while running through the documents on his desk. "Did you calm him down?"

Masha sighed and lifted his hand up to study his fingernails as he mulled over the answer. "Technically."

Ishwa turned this time and raised a bushy gnome eyebrow. "Define technically."

With a shrug, Masha pushed himself away from the doorframe and sauntered over to the gnome where he pulled up a chair and straddled it. "I sent him off with a group of guildies to go and farm us some of the wood we'll need to begin on the repairs and makeshift hall. Need to get you out of this tavern after all. Can't have our guild leader going soft because of alcohol or anything."

The mage snorted back a laugh, and then cleared his throat. "Wouldn't want that. You sure he's not going to piss more people off. I know you're fond of the kid, but I can't keep him here if he's just going to be a dick to everyone."

"I told him to be good and practice because right now he wasn't even the highest level in the guild and acting like he was high and mighty came off really bad." Masha hesitated, unsure how to broach the subject with Ishwa. He threw caution to the wind and just went for it. "Why do you tolerate him so much?"

This time it was Ishwa's turn to hesitate. In fact, the silence drew out so long that Masha didn't think his friend was going to answer.

"I know his dad." The mage spoke softly just when Masha had almost given up. "The kid has had anger issues as long as I've known of him. Not that his parents help or anything, not that they believe in therapy or getting him help. He's stubborn, opinionated, and expects more of himself than both parents do -- and trust me, that's saying something."

"I thought there had to be more to his just being a dick." Masha prodded, hoping for more information.

"Well he is that, and more. Expectations and parents who work themselves half to death and expect their oldest son to take care of the other three children -- those are part of it. That, and he's very demanding on himself. Which in turn leads to jealous rage and in this case, obsession." Ishwa stopped for a moment, and locked eyes with Masha when he began speaking again. "I just feel that if we were to remove him, he might go totally overboard and then anything that happens to that enchanter would partially be my fault."

Masha nodded thoughtfully, running their options through his head. "Guilty by default. Maybe you're right." He muttered the words so softly that Ishwa frowned. "What was that?"

But the cleric shook his head and headed toward the door again, waving behind him. "It's all good. Don't worry, I'll keep him under control."

Masha just had to hope he wasn't overestimating himself.

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